The field of the present invention pertains to input output systems for portable hand held digital electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for efficient alphanumeric input and output for hand-held digital electronic devices.
There are many different kinds of handheld digital electronic devices. Many devices incorporate displays for implementing input and output with a user. The displays depict the text entered by the user and also depict graphical output of the electronic device.
Different electronic devices from different manufacturers use different means for inputting alphanumeric information into the device. Depending upon the type of device and its characteristics (e.g., size, type of display, intended use, and the like), some input means are more advantageous than others. For example, some devices lend themselves to the incorporation of some type of miniature keyboard (e.g., a xe2x80x9cPalm sizedxe2x80x9d personal computer), while other types of devices require alternative alphanumeric input means (e.g., a portable digital camera).
For example, in the case of a digital camera, while many types of digital cameras are equipped with a liquid crystal display (LCD) or other type of display screen, there""s currently no sufficiently simple, intuitive way for a user to enter substantial amounts of text directly into the camera. While the incorporation of an LCD allows the digital camera to be easily controlled and manipulated and also provides an intuitive and easily used method for displaying device status, operating mode, stored images, etc. to the user, the necessarily small size of the LCD limits its utility with regard to the entering of substantial amounts of text. In addition to the small LCD size, the available area of the body of the digital camera that can be used for the inclusion of buttons, switches, mode dials, etc., is limited.
For example, in the case of LCD equipped digital cameras, in addition to an LCD, the cameras also typically include a number of buttons, switches, and dials for configuring the operating modes of the camera, navigating between images in play mode, and the like. For example, most digital cameras include buttons (e.g., two buttons labeled xe2x80x9cxe2x88x92xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c+xe2x80x9d) that enable a user to navigate or scroll through captured images. One or more of the buttons could be implemented as software programmable buttons (e.g., xe2x80x9csoftkeysxe2x80x9d). While this type of interface is designed to be very efficient at interfacing the user with the capabilities of the digital camera, it has proven to be very cumbersome when used to enter substantial amounts of text directly into the camera.
One prior art method used for alphanumeric text entry involves the graphical depiction of a xe2x80x9cselection wheelxe2x80x9d on the display of the digital camera wherein the selection wheel determines which alphanumeric character is selected for actuation. Two or more buttons are used to xe2x80x9cscrollxe2x80x9d the selection wheel among the included alphanumeric characters in order to xe2x80x9chighlightxe2x80x9d the particular character of interest (e.g., when the particular character of interest is highlighted beneath a xe2x80x9cselection windowxe2x80x9d overlaid on top of the selection wheel). Once the character of interest is highlighted, a SoftKey or other button is used to select, or actuate, the highlighted character, thereby entering it into, for example, a line of text being generated on the display.
Prior art FIG. 1A shows a diagram of a selection wheel type of text entry display 101. Display 101 graphically depicts an alphanumeric selection wheel 102, a text entry area 103, scroll indicators 105 and 106, and a highlight window 107. Softkeys 110-112 are depicted at the bottom of display 101. As described above, the user enters text into text entry area 103 by using scroll indicators 105 and 106 to scroll selection wheel 102 (e.g., up or down) until the desired character appears under highlight window 107. Entered text appears within the text entry area 103, with each successive character appearing above a cursor 115. The scroll indicators are actuated via softkeys 110 and 111. The highlighted character is selected via softkey 112. In this manner, the user enters the desired text, scrolling and selecting the appropriate characters as they appear underneath the highlight window 107, incrementally generating the desired text as it appears in text entry window 103.
Another prior art method involves the depiction of a standard xe2x80x9cQWERTYxe2x80x9d keyboard on the display of the electronic device (e.g., a handheld personal digital assistant) wherein one or more softkeys/buttons determine which alphanumeric character is highlighted and whether the highlighted character is selected or actuated. For example, in the case of a touch screen equipped PDA (personal digital assistant), in some cases, the user actually xe2x80x9ctypesxe2x80x9d out the desired text information by touching characters of interest with a stylus, thereby generating text on the display, character by character. The keys of the keyboard representation are touched with the stylus in order to highlight particular alphanumeric characters. A backspace key is often depicted to ease the task of editing the text. An xe2x80x9centered textxe2x80x9d area is often depicted which shows the current text being edited. Use of the stylus allows text being edited in the text area to be highlighted or otherwise manipulated by the user. Other keys are included for entering various types of symbols or other special characters.
Prior art FIG. 1B shows a diagram of a touch screen keyboard depiction type of text entry display 121. Display 121 graphically depicts a text entry area 122, a keyboard area 123, and editing keys 124-126. As described above, using the keyboard depiction, the user enters text into the text entry area 122 by touching desired characters depicted within keyboard area 123 with a separate stylus (not shown). Text is displayed within the text entry area 122 as it is entered by the user. Editing keys 124-126 (e.g., enter, backspace, and delete) are used to edited text displayed in the text entry area 122. Using the keyboard depiction, the user enters the desired text, typing in the desired text one character at a time with the stylus.
Both of the above methods present problems for the user. In the case of the selection wheel method, using a graphically depicted selection wheel in conjunction with one or more buttons on the digital camera is not particularly intuitive to a user. For example, the location of numerical characters on the selection wheel with respect to the text characters is not immediately obvious to a user. Typically, the numerical characters (numbers) are located either before or after the text characters (e.g., after the last alphabetical character xe2x80x9cZxe2x80x9d). Their location and the means for accessing them is often not intuitive. Further, once the numeric characters are accessed, often the manner in which individual numeric characters are accessed is counter intuitive. For example, whereas one softkey/button is used to xe2x80x9cmovexe2x80x9d the selection wheel up or down to select text characters earlier or later in the alphabet, the same softkey/button could use multiple different schemes to access the numerical characters, such as, for example, whether higher numerical characters are selected on the selection wheel by moving the softkey/button up or down to move the selection wheel up or down. Another problem is the fact that the user is required to traverse several steps in order to input text, which can make inputting large amounts of text (e.g., such as a meaningful description of a complex scene) tedious and frustrating.
In the case of the miniature QVWERTY keyboard representation, graphically depicting all of the keys of the keyboard within the limited size of the touch screen makes the individual keys of the keyboard quite small. This leads to problems wherein the user inadvertently selects the incorrect alphanumeric character. A important disadvantage of this system is the fact that it requires the use of a stylus and it requires the inclusion of a touch screen in the digital camera. The stylus is an extra piece of hardware which must be maintained by the user (e.g., not be lost, broken, etc.). The touch screen is an expensive piece of hardware which must be included in each electronic device, increasing unit cost accordingly.
Thus, what is required is a way of eliminating the requirement for a separate stylus and the inclusion of an expensive touch screen. What is required is a way of entering text into a digital camera which is intuitive and efficient for entering larger amounts of text. What is required is an efficient user-friendly method for entering text into a small handheld electronic device, such as a digital camera, which does not include a keyboard, mouse, stylus, or touch screen, or the like. The required method should offer a user-friendly method of entering text even though the display of the handheld device may be quite small. The present invention provides a novel solution for the above requirements.
The present invention implements an efficient alphanumeric text entry interface for portable digital electronic devices. The system of the present invention implements a keyboard metaphor for text entry while eliminating the requirement for a separate stylus and an expensive touch screen. The present invention provides a text entry scheme which is intuitive and efficient for entering substantial amounts of text. The system is efficient and user-friendly, allowing a user to efficiently enter text into a small handheld electronic device (such as a digital camera) that does not include a keyboard, mouse, stylus, or touch screen, or the like.
In one embodiment, the present invention is implemented as a method and system for efficient alphanumeric text entry interface for a digital camera-type portable electronic device. A first and second entry area, a text entry area and a keyboard area, are generated for display on the incorporated display screen of the digital camera. The text entry area and the keyboard area are both configured to display alphanumeric characters. A target cursor is generated for selecting from among the various alphanumeric characters displayed in the text entry area and the keyboard area. The target cursor is operable to highlight a currently selected alphanumeric character such that the currently selected alphanumeric character is visible and easily distinguishable to the user. The movement of the cursor is controlled with the four way controller built into the digital camera. The four way controller is adapted for easy actuation by the user, wherein its movements control the movement of the cursor on the display. The user controls the movement of the cursor among the alphanumeric characters within the text entry area and keyboard area and controls the movement of the cursor between the two.
A persistent selection highlight is generated for an alphanumeric character previously selected by the target cursor, such that as the cursor is moved between the text entry area and keyboard area, the previously selected alphanumeric character remains visible to the user. The user is able to selectively process the currently selected alphanumeric character or the previously selected alphanumeric character, such as, for example, by entering the character into a string of text being generated to describe a previously captured image, in accordance with the user""s actuation of an input control (e.g., one or more softkeys) built into the digital camera. In so doing, the digital camera implements a keyboard metaphor for text entry while eliminating the requirement for a separate stylus and an expensive touch screen, while remaining intuitive and efficient for entering text.